Systems and methods for insuring stored food

ABSTRACT

A person may store food to prepare for an emergency. An insurance policy may be issue to cover the stored food against loss, theft, spoilage, etc. In issuing the insurance policy and setting the premium, the insurer may take various factors into account, such as the type of food to be stored (e.g., canned, dried, etc.), where the food is to be stored (e.g., a cellar, a closet, a food locker, etc.), and whether the stored food is rotated with new food to prevent the stored food from spoiling due to age. During the life of the insurance policy, the insurer may issue alerts to the policyholder in order to advise the policyholder to rotate old food out of storage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/479,188, filed on Jun. 5, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,069,068, which isherein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Many people store food, so that the food can be used for emergencies.Examples of emergencies include natural disaster, war, job loss, or anyother situation that might make food difficult to obtain. Storing foodmay make a person feel more secure, knowing that he or she will not gohungry in the event that an emergency makes food unavailable. While foodstorage provides this measure of security, it also creates a risk: Thefood could spoil, or could be damaged, or could be stolen, therebycausing the person who stored the food to lose the money invested in thefood. This risk may cause people to avoid storing food.

SUMMARY

Food storage insurance may be provided in order to mitigate the riskthat money invested in stored food will be lost. The insurance may coverfood in the event of loss, damage, spoilage, or any other event. Theinsurance coverage may be subject to various conditions. For example,insurance coverage might be limited to non-perishable items. As anotherexample, coverage might be made conditional on rotating stores of food,storing the food in a temperature-controlled area, or on any otherconditions.

This summary section is provided to introduce a selection of concepts ina simplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription section. This summary section is not intended to identifykey features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor isit intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system that may be used to issueinsurance on food.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of example types of food, and example placesin which food could be stored.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example process in which an insurancepolicy on food may be issued and/or administered.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example computing environment that maybe used in connection with implementations of the subject matterdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Many people store food to prepare for emergencies. Examples ofemergencies include natural disasters such as hurricanes or snowstorms,war, terrorist attacks, loss of income, or any other circumstance thatmakes food unavailable or difficult to obtain. People may store the foodin various places, such as cellars, closets, food lockers, or even atrandom locations throughout their houses.

While stored food provides a measure of security in the event ofemergency, one issue that arises is that the stored food representsstored wealth, and the stored wealth can be lost if the food spoils oris stolen. Many people choose to store their emergency supplies ofwealth in a bank account since, in the United States, bank accounts areinsured by a federal agency at no additional expense to the depositor.Wealth stored in the form of a bank account does not provide the sametype of security as having stored food. People expect to eat on aregular basis, and it is conceivable that, during times of emergency,food might not be available at any price, or only at an exorbitantprice. But since the circumstances in which food is unavailable arerare, people often choose to forego the security of having stored foodin order to avoid the risk that the stored food will spoil or will bestolen, thereby depriving the owner of its value.

The subject matter herein may be used to insure stored food. Aninsurance policy may be issued on a cache of stored food. The insurancepolicy may insure the food like other policies that cover valuablechattels, but may also take into account issues that are particular tofood. For example, food is subject to spoilage, while most chattels arenot. The risk of spoilage may differ depending on the nature of the food(e.g., refrigerated or frozen food is subject to different spoilagerisks than canned food). Food may have an expiration date, or mayotherwise tend to go bad as it ages. Moreover, since food is intended tobe consumed, there may be a particularly high risk of claim fraud, sinceit is difficult to verify whether an insured item for which a claim hasbeen issued was stolen or if it was merely consumed. The mechanics of afood insurance policy may take into account these issues, as well asothers.

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows an example system that may beused to issue insurance on food. Food insurance component 102 may beused to issue an insurance policy 104 based on various factors. Foodinsurance component 102 may be implemented, for example, as software oras part of a computer system, although food insurance component could beimplemented in any manner.

Food insurance component 102 may take various factors into account indetermining whether to issue insurance policy 104, and in determiningwhat the premium 106 for such policy is. Some examples of these factorsare shown in FIG. 1. One example factor is a description 108 of the foodto be insured. For example, the food that a customer proposes to insuremay be canned food (e.g., canned fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, etc.);dry goods (e.g., grain, flour, seeds, etc.); jarred food (e.g., peanutbutter, nuts, etc.); dried or cured food (e.g., beef jerky, raisins orother dried fruits, etc.); or any other type of food. These differenttypes of food may be associated with different risks. For example,canned food may have a shelf life of five years, while dried food mayhave a shelf life of ten years. On the other hand, dried food may besubject to damage from vermin, while canned food might not be. There maybe specific risk issues associated with specific foods. For example,canned fish may have a shorter shelf life than canned tomatoes. Somefoods (e.g., fresh or frozen foods that rely on refrigeration to preventspoilage) may be of a particularly high risk, and thus might beuninsurable (although whether a particular type of food is insurabledepends on the specific underwriting standards being applied, so suchfoods might be insurable under a particular set of underwritingstandards). These are some examples of types of food, and of howdifferent risks may be associated with different types of food, althoughthe subject matter herein may apply to any type of food, which could beassociated with any type of risk.

Another example factor that food insurance component 102 may take intoaccount is storage conditions 110. Food may be stored in a variety ofconditions. For example, some people may store food in cellar, a foodlocker, or some other location where temperature and humidity areconsidered to be relatively stable. On the other hand, some people maystore food around their house—e.g., behind furniture, in bedroomclosets, or anyplace else where there is space to store the food.Storage conditions 110 may affect the risk of storing food. For example,in a cellar or a climate-controlled food locker, where the temperatureand humidity may be relatively stable and at non-extreme levels, certaintypes of spoilage are relatively unlikely to occur. At cellartemperatures, bacteria tend to grow slowly. In a low humidityenvironment, mould damage is less likely than in a high humidityenvironment. Moreover, without large swings in temperature, the seals oncans are less likely to become damaged. Therefore, the risk associatedwith storing food may be relatively low when the food is stored in aclimate-controlled food locker or in a cellar. On the other hand,storing food in a house might subject the food to large seasonal changesin temperature or humidity. While a modern house is relativelyclimate-controlled through air conditioning and central heating, thereare times when the temperature and humidity in the house changesignificantly—e.g., when the occupants are on vacation and they turn offthe heat or air conditioning to reduce energy costs. Moreover, food thatis stored around the house may be relatively more likely to be stolen.The food in the house may even be eaten inadvertently, therebyincreasing somewhat the risk of a false claim for loss or theft of thefood. Thus, food that is stored in a house may be somewhat riskier toinsure than food that is stored in a food locker or a cellar.

Another example factor that food insurance component 102 may take intoaccount is rotation conditions 112. Food stores may be acquiredovertime, which results in some instances of the stored food being olderthan other stored instances. For example, if a person buys an extra jarof peanut butter every month in order to invest in stored food, by theend of the year the person will have twelve jars of peanut butter ofvarying ages. Moreover, the same person may also buy some peanut butterto eat rather than to store. Unless the stored food is used (e.g., dueto an emergency), this scenario results in the person routinely eatingthe newest jar of peanut butter, while also having many increasingly oldjars of peanut butter that are at risk for spoilage as they age. If theperson has a system for rotating food, so that new food is put intostorage and old food is eaten, this system may reduce the risk ofspoilage. For example, each time the person buys a jar of peanut butter,he could put that jar into storage and then take an older jar out ofstorage to eat. This procedure is an example of a food rotation system.The existence of such a system may reduce the risk of insuring foodagainst spoilage, and thus may affect the insurability of food and/orthe price of the insurance.

Factors 108-112 are examples of factors that may be taken into accountby food insurance component in issuing insurance policy 104, althoughany other factors could be taken into account.

Food insurance component 102 may use underwriting data 114 to determinewhether to issue insurance policy 104, and at what premium 106.Underwriting data 114 may include a historical record of the risksassociated with insuring food under certain conditions. For example,underwriting data 114 may show that a certain level of risk isassociated with canned food, and that a different level of risk isassociated with dried food. Underwriting data 114 may also show thehistorical levels of risk associated with particular storage conditions110, particular rotation conditions 112, or risks associated with anyother factors. Thus based on underwriting data 114, and/or based on theparticular factors associated with the food to be insured, foodinsurance component 102 may determine whether to issue insurance policy104, and what the premium 106 of that policy is to be.

FIG. 2 shows examples of types of food, and of places in which foodcould be stored.

In the example of FIG. 2, types of food 202 include canned food 204, drygoods 206, dried or cured foods 208, and jarred foods 210. The types offood 202 shown in FIG. 2 are merely examples, and it is noted that thesubject matter described herein applies to any types of food.

There are various examples of places 212 in which food could be stored.One such example is a food locker 214, which may be a secured,climate-controlled area in which food may be stored in relatively stableconditions. Another example of a place in which food may be stored is acellar 216. Yet another example is locations in a house, such asclosets, behind furniture, spare rooms, or any other such places.

As previously described, there may be various risks associated withparticular types of food and/or particular ways of storing that food.For example, food in a cellar or climate-controlled food locker may beless likely to spoil than food stored in closets or in ordinary rooms ofa house. Food stored in a food locker may be less likely to be stolenthan food stored in other areas.

In addition to the food types and storage locations shown in FIG. 2,other types of food and/or storage locations may be used. For example,another type of food is frozen food, and an example of a place in whichsuch frozen food could be stored is a freezer. There may be particularconsiderations that apply to the insurance of frozen food. For example,frozen food is particularly likely to spoil if it is stored in a freezerthat depends on electricity.

FIG. 3 shows an example process in which an insurance policy on food maybe issued and/or administered. Before turning to a description of FIG.3, it is noted that the flow diagram shown in FIG. 3 is described, byway of example, with reference to components shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,although these processes may be carried out in any system and are notlimited to the scenarios shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Additionally, the flowdiagram of FIG. 3 shows an example in which stages of a process arecarried out in a particular order, as indicated by the lines connectingthe blocks, but the various stages shown in FIG. 3 may be performed inany order, or in any combination or sub-combination.

At 302, information is received about the food to be insured. Forexample, the nature of the food (e.g., canned fruit, dried meat, etc.)may be received at 302.

At 304, information is received about how the insured food is to bestored. For example, the information received at 304 may indicatewhether the owner of the food intends to keep the food in a food locker,a freezer, a cellar, a closet of his home, etc.

At 306, underwriting data is received. The underwriting data may, forexample, indicate historical loss experience associated with certaintypes of food and/or certain storage arrangements.

At 308, an insurance policy may be issued based on the informationreceived at 302-306.

Following issuance of the insurance policy, the policy may be servicedin various ways. One example way in which the policy may be serviced isto issue alerts to the owner of the food (at 310). One example of analert is a rotation alert (at 312). As previously described, there maybe reason to rotate stores of food by consuming old stored food andreplacing the stored food with new food. The insurer may want to issuealerts to remind the owner of the food to make sure a rotation. If theinsurer issues an alert to remind the insured party to rotate stores offood, the insurer may receive, from the insured party, a confirmationthat the food has been rotated (at 314). (E.g., the insured party may becalled upon to certify periodically that he or she has rotated stores offood. The certification, when provided by the insured party, is anexample of the kind of confirmation that may be provided at 314.)

At some point during the life of an insurance policy, a claim for lossor damage to insured food may be received (at 316). When such a claim isreceived, the claim may be assessed (at 318). The assessment process maydetermine whether the loss or damage is a covered risk under the policy.If the loss or damage is a covered risk, then the insurer may pay aclaim for the loss or damage of food (at 320). Although the claim may bepaid in any manner (e.g., by check), in one example the insurer may wantto pay the claim in the form of certificates or cards whose use islimited to replacing the food item for which the claim is made. There isa danger that the holder of a food insurance policy might use the policyto convert food to money, but settling a claim in the form of acertificate or card that can only be used to buy food (or to buy thespecific food item for which the claim is made) reduces the risk that aninsured would file a fraudulent claim in order to convert stored foodinto money.

The subject matter described herein may be implemented through the useof a computer system, or other type of device that has some computingmechanism(s). FIG. 4 shows an example computing environment in whichexample embodiments and aspects may be implemented. The computing systemenvironment is only one example of a suitable computing environment andis not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality.

Numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing systemenvironments or configurations may be used. Examples of well knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use include, but are not limited to, personal computers(PCs), server computers, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputers,mainframe computers, embedded systems, distributed computingenvironments that include any of the previously-described systems ordevices, and the like.

Computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer may be used. Generally, program modules includeroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., thatperform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.Distributed computing environments may be used where tasks are performedby remote processing devices that are linked through a communicationsnetwork or other data transmission medium. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules and other data may be located in both localand remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

With reference to FIG. 4, an example system for implementing aspectsdescribed herein includes a computing device, such as computing device400. In its most basic configuration, computing device 400 typicallyincludes at least one processing unit 402 and memory 404. Depending onthe exact configuration and type of computing device, memory 404 may bevolatile (such as random access memory (RAM)), non-volatile (such asread-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.), or some combination of thetwo. This most basic configuration is illustrated in FIG. 4 by dashedline 406.

Computing device 400 may have additional features/functionality. Forexample, computing device 400 may include additional storage (removableand/or non-removable) including, but not limited to, magnetic or opticaldisks or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 4 byremovable storage 408 and non-removable storage 410.

Computing device 400 typically includes a variety of computer readablemedia. Computer readable media can be any available media that can beaccessed by computing device 400 and includes both volatile andnon-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way ofexample, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprisecomputer storage media and communication media.

Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules or other data. Memory 404, removable storage 408, andnon-removable storage 410 are all examples of computer storage media.Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other mediumwhich can be used to store the desired information and which can beaccessed by computing device 400. Any such computer storage media may bepart of computing device 400.

Computing device 400 may also contain communications connection(s) 412that allow the device to communicate with other devices. Communicationsconnection(s) 412 is an example of communication media. Communicationmedia typically embodies computer readable instructions, datastructures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signalsuch as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes anyinformation delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example,and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as awired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such asacoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared and other wireless media. Theterm computer readable media as used herein includes both storage mediaand communication media.

Computing device 400 may also have input device(s) 414 such as keyboard,mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc. Outputdevice(s) 416 such as a display, speakers, printer, etc. may also beincluded. All these devices are well known in the art and need not bediscussed at length here.

It should be understood that the various techniques described herein maybe implemented in connection with hardware or software or, whereappropriate, with a combination of both. Thus, the methods and apparatusof the presently disclosed subject matter, or certain aspects orportions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions)embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, harddrives, or any other machine-readable storage medium wherein, when theprogram code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as acomputer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the presentlydisclosed subject matter. In the case of program code execution onprogrammable computers, the computing device generally includes aprocessor, a storage medium readable by the processor (includingvolatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least oneinput device, and at least one output device. One or more programs mayimplement or utilize the processes described in connection with thepresently disclosed subject matter, e.g., through the use of an API,reusable controls, or the like. Such programs are preferably implementedin a high level procedural or object oriented programming language tocommunicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can beimplemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case,the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combinedwith hardware implementations.

Although example embodiments may refer to utilizing aspects of thepresently disclosed subject matter in the context of one or morestand-alone computer systems, the subject matter is not so limited, butrather may be implemented in connection with any computing environment,such as a network or distributed computing environment. Still further,aspects of the presently disclosed subject matter may be implemented inor across a plurality of processing chips or devices, and storage maysimilarly be effected across a plurality of devices. Such devices mightinclude personal computers, network servers, and handheld devices, forexample.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

1. A system for issuing an insurance policy on food, the systemcomprising: at least one computing device with a processor and a memoryhaving instructions stored therein that are executable by the processorto: determine a premium of a food insurance policy based on a type offood covered by the insurance policy, a condition in which the food isstored and rotated, and underwriting data that describes a lossexperience associated with the type of food that identifies the way inwhich the food is stored and rotated; issue the food insurance policyissue an alert to a policyholder of the food insurance policy, whereinthe alert advises the policyholder to rotate the food; and receive, fromthe policyholder, a confirmation that the supply of stored food has beenrotated in response to receiving the alert that advises the policyholderto rotate the food.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the underwritingdata includes information that identifies risks associated with the wayin which the food is stored and rotated.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the information about how the food is stored indicates that thefood is stored in a house of a person to whom the food insurance policyis issued.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the food insurance policyrequires rotation of old items of food by replacing the old items offood with new items of food.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein, in theevent of a claim for loss or damage to an item of food that is coveredby the food insurance policy, a card or certificate that is redeemablefor a food item commensurate in value to the item of food that that waslost or damaged is issued.
 6. A system for administering food insurancepolicy on a supply of stored food, the system comprising: at least onecomputing device with a processor and a memory having instructionsstored therein that are executable by the processor to: issue foodinsurance policy based on a type of food to be stored and a condition inwhich the food is stored and rotated; and receive, from thepolicyholder, a confirmation that the supply of stored food has beenrotated in response to receiving an alert advising the policyholder torotate the food.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein an alert is issued toa policyholder of the food insurance policy, wherein the alert advisesthe policyholder to rotate the supply of stored food by replacing oldfood in the supply with Previously Presented food.
 8. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the type of food is jarred or canned food.
 9. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein the confirmation comprises a certification bythe policyholder that the supply of stored food has been rotated. 10.The system of claim 6, wherein, in the event of a claim for loss ordamage to an item of food that is covered by the food insurance policy,a card or certificate that is redeemable for a food item commensurate invalue to the item of food that that was lost or damaged is issued. 11.The system of claim 10, wherein the card or certificate is redeemableonly for the type of food for which the claim was made.
 12. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-readableinstructions stored thereon that are executed by a processor to: issue afood insurance policy based on a type of food to be covered by theinsurance policy, a condition in which the food is stored and rotated,and underwriting data that describes a loss experience associated withthe type of food that identifies the condition in which the food isstored and rotated; issue an alert to a policyholder of the foodinsurance policy, wherein the alert advises the policyholder to rotatethe food; and receive, from the policyholder, a confirmation that thefood has been rotated in response to receiving the alert that advisesthe policyholder to rotate the food.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 12, including instructions executed bythe processor to, in the event of a claim for loss or damage to an itemof food that is covered by the food insurance policy, issue a card orcertificate that is redeemable for a food item commensurate in value tothe item of food that that was lost or damaged.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the card or certificate isredeemable only for the type of food for which the claim was made. 15.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein thealert advising the policyholder to rotate the food includes instructionsto rotate the food by replacing the food with Previously Presented food.16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein theconfirmation comprises a certification by the policyholder that thesupply of stored food has been rotated.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the underwriting dataincludes information that identifies risks associated with the way inwhich the food is stored and rotated.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the condition in which thefood is stored comprises storing the food in a food locker or in acellar.